Aelya Ehtasham – The Cornell Daily Sunhttp://cornellsun.com
Independent Since 1880Tue, 26 Sep 2017 19:51:26 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.4http://i2.wp.com/cornellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cropped-red-on-white-website-icon-2.png?fit=32%2C32Aelya Ehtasham – The Cornell Daily Sunhttp://cornellsun.com
3232Ithaca Rated Top College Town in United Stateshttp://cornellsun.com/2017/08/20/ithaca-rated-top-college-town-in-united-states/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2017/08/20/ithaca-rated-top-college-town-in-united-states/#commentsMon, 21 Aug 2017 00:44:19 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=1962107Students at Cornell may be pleased to find out that they are not only at one of the best universities in the world, but also the best college town, according to two separate recent rankings.

Cornell was recognized as the 14th best in the world from QS World University Rankings, while Ithaca took home the top spot as the best college town in the United States by the website Schools.com.

According to schools.com, a website dedicated to being a “hub” for higher education topics, the town consistently “ranks in the top third of all schools in our rankings” and ranks sixth in affordability.

The parameters of college towns were defined as towns with less than 150,000 people, and the website looked at 170 communities.

Schools.com looked at factors beyond those that only affect current students — Ithaca’s high ranking can be attributed to its low cost of living for graduates who stay in Ithaca after they leave as well as its public school system.

The website also praised the “quality education” in Ithaca, adding that “students come together for uniquely Ithaca events.”

This is not the first time Ithaca has been esteemed as a college town — in 2014, Business Insider ranked it as the fourth best college town.

“Ithaca is the perfect mixture of giving students everything they would want in a college experience and offering seemingly endless opportunities to explore a unique local culture,” read another Business Insider article.

In June, Cornell was ranked also as 14th in the world for 2018 by QS World University Rankings, which gave it an overall score of 90.7 out of 100.

QS bases rankings academic reputation, citations per faculty, student-to-faculty ratio, employer reputation, international faculty and international students, according to its website.

Academic reputation weighs the most heavily at 40 percent on the overall score. Cornell’s ranking with QS comes as an improvement from the 2017 ranking of number 16, as well from the 2015 ranking as number 19.

Cornell Health partnered with the student creators of the campaign to host the gallery of posters in Willard Straight Hall, which sought to encourage the community to look “beneath the surface” of faces in the Cornell community and to educate attendees on the efficacy of campus resources.

Shea O’Hill ’17 said the event was important for improving the dialogue on campus and offered a different approach to mental health resources on campus.

“It’s really powerful to give student faces to these issues, because you realize these are your peers and that makes you feel more comfortable addressing mental health,” she said. “This took statistics and humanized them.”

Renee Alexander ’74, associate dean of students, said in a quote written on her poster that it is important to create a dialogue relating to mental health.

“Discussing mental health contributes to a holistic, all-encompassing approach to health and wellness,” she said. “It helps us be in touch with our total being.”

The installation launches at a time of high stress and anxiety for many students, according to Sharon Dittman, director for community relations at Cornell Health, formerly Gannett Health Services. The event hosts presented posters with mental health resources, and representatives from Counseling and Psychological Services and Cornell Minds Matter also answered questions during the event.

Sponsors of the event hoped that “in sharing our experience as Cornellians, we can help others know they’re not alone if they are struggling,” according to the Facebook event page. “There are individuals and services to support each of us.”

As attendees walked around the music room and read from the posters on the wall, students shared their experiences in a video playing at the front of the room.

Students depicted in the posters elaborated on their experiences in the video by answering questions about confronting mental health and helping peers with mental health.

“Understanding my own mental health has allowed me agency and context in navigating the world around me,” Samari Gilbert ’17 wrote on one poster.

O’Hill said students should be comfortable having candid discussions about mental health with people they trust.

“I think it’s really important to have with programs like Cornell Minds Matter trying to bring visibility to the concept that it’s okay to have these discussion about mental health and reduce mental health stigma on campus,” she said.

]]>http://cornellsun.com/2017/05/02/beneath-the-surface-campaign-reveals-internal-mental-health-struggles/feed/0GPSA Debates Banning Faculty-Student Relationshipshttp://cornellsun.com/2017/04/11/gpsa-debates-banning-faculty-student-relationships/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2017/04/11/gpsa-debates-banning-faculty-student-relationships/#respondTue, 11 Apr 2017 04:01:37 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=1353772Graduate and professional students debated Resolution 14, which called for a ban on most student and faculty relationships and enforcement of this policy, in the first Graduate and Professional Student Assembly meeting since the union election.

Anna Waymack, grad, submitted the resolution in response to both a lack of adherence to a previous policy on student and staff sexual relations and a Faculty Senate decision in 2015 to vote against enforcement of that policy.

Waymack argued that resources for a student in a relationship with a faculty member do not exist and advocated for “a viable reporting option, where a point person checks in to ensure the relationship is consensual and that the student has resources, and if the relationship isn’t disclosed, then there is enforcement for that,” she said.

According to the resolution, relationships “between students and individuals who might reasonably be expected to write them a letter of recommendation” and “who can directly control grades, academic progress or professional development” would be banned, with room for review in regards to gray areas.

In response to questions about the resolution’s necessity, Waymack said there is a concern of coercion and explained that the original policy in place is vague and does not offer a policy of “checking in with the student to ensure that there is no pressure.”

The resolution offered statistics as evidence of such coercion, such as a 2016 study which found that “57.1% of female law students have been sexually harassed by faculty or staff.”

Further statistics and cases at peer institutions indicated that “contemporary studies showed no improvement” in matters of sexual harassment between faculty and graduate or professional students since Cornell’s Faculty Senate originally adopted a policy in 1996.

This resolution differs from a similar one made last year. However, the resolution presented last year never made it to the floor of the Faculty Senate, according to Waymack.

Waymack said she wants to allow the Student Advocacy Committee to be able to present this new resolution to the Faculty Senate, ensuring graduate and professional students get a voice in an issue that pertains to them and the Faculty Senate does not avoid addressing the resolution indefinitely.

“There’s a bit more accountability built into this and we get to speak for ourselves,” Waymack explained.

“I am uncomfortable with the way that the Faculty Senate felt comfortable speaking our behalf,” Waymack continued. “I want to make sure GPSA is listening to our constituents and listening to the Student Assembly.”

Waymack also said that a policy regarding student and faculty relationships “should not be something where we’re behind.”

“It’s a little appalling that a lot of corporate workplaces have more stringent rules about romantic and sexual relationships as they pertain to office hierarchies than academia,” she said.

In dissent to the resolution, Richard Walroth, Counsel, gave examples of faculty who are married to former students.

“This is an indication that in some cases these relationships do work out well for students,” he said. “A blanket ban seems to ignore that fact.”

Walroth was also in agreement that “the issue here is coercion” and was concerned that “a blanket ban would just drive these issues underground.”

Manisha Munasinghe, grad, argued that changes to the policy deserved a referendum, involving a larger body of people in making the decision.

“We can’t say that we know how a graduate or a professional student feels about this.” Munasinghe said. “We need to understand what the students want and come back with a strong policy change.”

Jesse Goldberg, grad, acknowledged how important it was that the resolution looked forward towards individuals’ professional careers.

“We should think about the ways in which our relationships follow us for years in ways that aren’t clear at the moment of a class,” he said. “While it sounds like a very strong blanket ban, I think it’s very limited.”

At the end of the discussion, Resolution 14 was recommitted to the Student Advocacy Committee and will be on the floor again at the next GPSA meeting.

]]>http://cornellsun.com/2017/04/11/gpsa-debates-banning-faculty-student-relationships/feed/0Cornell Graduate Students United and Cornell Organization for Labor Action Stand By Ithaca College in Contingent Faculty Strikehttp://cornellsun.com/2017/02/23/cornell-graduate-students-united-and-cornell-organization-for-labor-action-stand-by-ithaca-college-in-contingent-faculty-strike/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2017/02/23/cornell-graduate-students-united-and-cornell-organization-for-labor-action-stand-by-ithaca-college-in-contingent-faculty-strike/#respondThu, 23 Feb 2017 05:19:49 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=1122409Cornell Graduate Students United and Cornell Organization for Labor Action advocated in support of the contingent faculty union and potential strike at Ithaca College by publishing a statement in The Ithacan on Monday.

“We, the members of Cornell Graduate Student Union and Cornell Organization for Labor Action, stand in solidarity with the Ithaca College Contingent Faculty,” the statement read. “We, as current and future workers from Cornell University, remind the Ithaca College Administration that the fundamental role of the university is to critically challenge the status quo, which reserves justice, equality and dignity for a small minority.”

An open letter published on Feb. 9 from The Ithaca College Contingent Faculty Union Bargaining Committee said that Ithaca College represents “a ‘precariat’ of demoralized and underpaid contingent professors.”

As a response to this burgeoning stress, IC faculty voted to create a union in 2015 to “fight collectively for better pay and job security,” according to the letter.

The Ithaca College administration has responded to this call and engaged in bargaining talks with two contingent faculty unions — involving both part-time and full-time faculty.

The administration has received numerous proposals advocating for equal pay and job security, though no ultimate compromises have been reached.

The contingent faculty union held a deciding vote on Feb. 13 and 14, with 88 percent voting in favor of authorizing a strike. Now, nearly eighteen months since unionizing in 2015, bargaining committees for IC and the contingent faculty union will have one more meeting with a federal mediator to settle on a proposal with the pressure of a strike hanging in the balance.

The Ithaca College administration released a statement reacting to the vote to authorize a strike saying that the bargaining team is “disappointed.” Ithaca College plans to hire people to fill faculty positions in the event of the strike, though many departments and students at the college have voiced solidarity with the contingent faculty union.

CGSU and COLA released a joint statement saying they would “stand in solidarity with the Ithaca College Contingent Faculty and unconditionally support all future labor actions undertaken by them.”

COLA member Caro Achar ’18 said that their organization “has made clear to the organizers of the Ithaca College full-time and part-time faculty that we will provide assistance to them in whatever way we can.”

“The national labor movement is so much about solidarity and community advocacy,” Achar said. “We felt it is our responsibility as both advocates for workers’ rights and students to support the contingent faculty at Ithaca College.”

Achar also acknowledged the reality that “the contingent faculty at Ithaca College, who compose almost half of the total faculty at IC, face conditions of precarious, insecure and underpaid working and living conditions.”

Vera Khovanskaya grad, a member of CGSU, also spoke of the need for solidarity.

“As a member of CGSU, I am happy to participate in actions like this and I was very impressed with the turnout from CGSU, Cornell Coalition for Labor Action, and the IC Students for Labor Actions,” Khovanskaya said.

Khovanskaya added that the “increased labor action happening across university campuses” is important for “engagement in the struggle of contingent faculty has sharpened awareness about the need for labor protection and solidarity with academic workers.”

Sarah Grunberg, an instructor in the department of sociology at IC, told The Sun that the progress made from negotiation and arbitration was inefficient, thus elevated action could encourage greater change.

“While some work can be done at the table, we know that the real change has occurred through the incredible work that has been done on the ground by campuses nationwide, including organizing, student protests and strike actions,” she said.

Prof. Keith Hannon, media studies, Ithaca College, wrote a recent op-ed published in Ithaca Voice that placed the situation in a national context.

“If we are to maintain our status as a progressive community that places humanity above profitability, we have to treat our local educators with the respect and admiration they deserve,” he wrote. “As we brace ourselves for the Betsy Devos era, Tompkins County has an opportunity to prove how much we value education by standing up in support of Ithaca College’s adjunct professors.”

Areas on the eastern side of the quad have new paths for Mann Library and Warren Hall, as well as two new blue light phones that have been activated and new light poles.

Orinda said that a lot of the landscape work on the eastern half of the quad is complete, adding that the underground utility upgrades work — steam pipes, telecom duct banks, and water pipes — have all been completed.

Phase two will involve completing the remaining concrete paths on the western end of the quad and new plazas at Roberts and Kennedy Halls, Orinda said, in addition to benches, lighting poles, new topsoil and plantings are also planned in the second phase.

After significant progress, construction has halted for the duration of winter.

“Low temperatures are not conducive to the types of construction activities involved in the project,” Orinda said.

Orinda said construction will resume around late March or early April depending on weather conditions.

Halted construction means the Ag Quad’s circular routes to different buildings will remain in pace for the time being. Although there is clear signage for navigating the buildings, the new concrete paths will provide more direct access.

Ag Quad construction is still on track for completion by the 2017–18 academic year.

]]>http://cornellsun.com/2017/02/12/renovations-for-eastern-half-of-ag-quad-complete/feed/0eCornell Introduces Women in Leadership Program to Address Workplace Biaseshttp://cornellsun.com/2017/01/26/ecornell-introduces-women-in-leadership-program-to-address-workplace-biases/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2017/01/26/ecornell-introduces-women-in-leadership-program-to-address-workplace-biases/#commentsFri, 27 Jan 2017 04:27:35 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=997415eCornell is offering a new program for women to further advance their careers in a predominantly gender-biased workforce.

The Women in Leadership certificate online program — created by Prof. Deborah Streeter, applied economics and management — offers strategies for recognizing and addressing gender issues in the workplace, according to the website.

The program website provides courses that navigate the “double bind” — the dilemma regarding assumptions of a woman’s masculinity or femininity by their leadership actions. It offers courses that explore the application of negotiating skills, emotional intelligence and cultivating a work/life balance.

Streeter explained that she designed the program to be online in order to provide a “private space” for leaders to reflect on their business goals.

“Given the lack of women in many industries, an aspiring leader does not always have the right person inside her own company to be a private channel of communication,” Streeter said. “Since applying the lessons meaningfully is heavily dependent on the context of the person’s situation, the combination of listening/learning and personal reflection makes the courses powerful.”

Streeter emphasized that although the program is designed for women, anyone can take the online courses.

“Every man has women in his life, of one kind or another, and understanding the world of stereotypes and gender issues is relevant,” Streeter said. “Every gender is impacted by these aspects of the workplace.”

According to eCornell’s website, the program — which is largely tailored to women who are mid to senior-level managers or who pursue leadership roles — spans the course of three months.

Lisa Hatfield, vice president of Individual Student Enrollment at eCornell, said that there are no prerequisites for the program and that its five two-week courses offer numerous tools for women in the workplace.

The program also advertises that “all courses are led by industry-expert instructors who will guide, challenge and help apply the course concepts to real-world, on-the-job circumstances,” according to the website.

Upon completion of the program, participants are awarded a Women in Leadership Certificate from Cornell University’s College of Business.

Megan Burke, chief marketing officer at eCornell, emphasized the importance of having such a program at the University.

“[These courses] give women leaders actionable tools to advance their careers,” she said. “Cornell is uniquely positioning itself as a leader and expert in the many pervasive issues related to diversity and unconscious bias in organizational culture today.”

Resolution 11 was previously tabled at the assembly’s Sept. 29 meeting. Co-sponsors Gabe Kaufman ’18, undergraduate representative to the University Assembly, and Akhilesh Issur ’17, international student liaison at large, offered to receive further comments on the S.A. Investigative Committee on Membership Reform, or SAICMR.

“There’s a lot of disagreement on restructuring,” Issur said. “Whether it should take place, when there should be restructuring, how restructuring should take place, if there should be a committee and what the membership of that committee would look like. We really want to take the opportunity to talk about all of these different issues.”

“Without a sufficient campaign of outreach to the student body, we will not know what they desire.” — Hamish MacDiarmid ’19

Issur and Kaufman stressed the importance of reaching out to community members for their perspectives on the issue, adding that another reason for disagreement over the resolution is the contending definitions about what “community input looks like.”

Kaufman proposed allowing members of the student body to have a say in the potential restructuring by “having forums before the committee is actually established,” and expressed agreement with the decision to table the resolution until after the forums could be held.

Julia Montejo ’17, vice president of diversity and inclusion, dissented from the resolution “on principle,” saying it was proposed without any community input.

“If you’re doing something with the purpose of empowering the community and empowering more representation for the community, go to the community first,” she said.

In an effort to clarify the resolution, members of the assembly passed amendments to the original proposal. The first amendment was proposed by Dustin Liu ’19, vice president of public relations. Liu said his proposal would make membership to SAICMR application-based and “more open” than was previously proposed. His amendment passed after discussion with a 15-5 vote, with two abstaining.

In response, other members raised concerns about how SAICMR members would be chosen.

“We already have mechanisms in place to staff other committees that are application-based, and I think that would achieve better representation,” Montejo said.

Kaufman proposed another amendment calling for the addition of “two open forums scheduled by the executive committee,” which passed with a 12-8 vote and two people abstaining.

He also motioned to amend SAICMR’s member appointment process to reflect normal S.A. procedures, which passed with a 14-6 vote.

Both Hamish MacDiarmid ’19, College of Arts and Sciences representative, and Diana Li ’17, vice president of finance, emphasized the importance of increasing community involvement in the decision making process, regardless of the outcome.

“Without a sufficient campaign of outreach to the student body to have a more representative S.A., we will not know what they desire,” MacDiarmid said. “The resolution is currently too contentious in its wording and structure, and not conducive to results.”

Ultimately, by a 13-9 vote with no abstentions, the S.A. voted to table Resolution 11 until next week.

]]>http://cornellsun.com/2016/10/06/s-a-votes-to-table-restructuring-resolution-again-disputing-committees-inclusivity/feed/2CORNELL CLOSE-UPS | Teaching Support Specialist Draws on Experience as Adult Transferhttp://cornellsun.com/2016/09/29/cornell-close-ups-teaching-support-specialist-draws-on-experience-as-adult-transfer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2016/09/29/cornell-close-ups-teaching-support-specialist-draws-on-experience-as-adult-transfer/#commentsThu, 29 Sep 2016 04:16:33 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=588956Teaching Support Specialist David Hartino is especially equipped to make students’ Cornell engineering experiences applicable to the non-academic world; he lived there for decades before reentering the College of Engineering at age 40.

“My classmates really didn’t care that I was twice their age,” Hartino said of his reintroduction to college life. “I got into study groups, I was really welcomed in, and that says an awful lot.”

Hartino briefly attended the University of Buffalo after high school, before leaving to “find my way in the world, because I knew everything then, obviously,” as he said sarcastically.

He said he ended up spending over 20 years in the workforce before completing his college degree.

“I tried restaurant work, then I got a job on a construction site and I was a laborer — carrying cinder blocks up scaffolding, hauling lumber,” he said. “It doesn’t take long to figure out you better learn something, you better get yourself an education in some manner.”

Hartino said he remained ambitious, emphasizing the importance of being “hungry.”

“If you work hard and you take responsibility for your actions, you can be promoted,” he said.

Hartino said he knew construction work was “limiting” and ended up going back to school at Monroe Community College at the age of 38. He went on to graduate from Cornell with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and earned a masters in engineering in 2015.

“I was so far behind that I couldn’t even matriculate into a community college’s engineering program,” he said. “My math wasn’t up to snuff, and that’s pretty humbling right there.”

A Rochester native, Hartino said he was familiar with Ithaca long before he joined the Cornell community.

“When I was younger [my family and I] would come here for vacations — we would go camping, canoeing and hiking,” he said. “So to actually end up here in Ithaca is kind of where I wanted to be anyway, strangely enough, although I didn’t plan it to happen that way.”

Hartino said he had always leaned toward engineering, beginning with his very first stint in college. He explained he just “had to be ready” to pursue the career with commitment.

“I thought I was way too old to start an engineering career, but I guess not, because it’s worked out pretty well,” he said.

Hartino said he was able to attend Cornell because of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which encourages students from state schools and community colleges to apply to selective universities.

“Just because you’re at a state school doesn’t mean you’re not smart, you just have to understand the opportunities that are there,” he said.

Coming to Cornell was a “tough transition,” Hartino said, but “the attitude of the faculty and the student body here was really not one of elite snobbery; it was ‘Come on in the water’s fine.’”

Hartino also praised the variety of student backgrounds present at the University.

“I was the diversity,” he said. “I was the old man. And I think I brought something to it, but I also learned an awful lot from it. I wasn’t the only one with a story. Very often my classmates were like ‘you wouldn’t believe how I got here’ and I thought ‘try me.’”

Hartino said he developed a stronger motive to succeed while studying at Cornell.

“I spent 20 years on a construction site so I know what happens if you don’t do well, and you can do as well as you want here,” he said. “Everyone has a plan for success and everyone is really motivated here, and you can’t not get caught up in that.”

Hartino currently works as a teaching support specialist, finding fulfillment as a part of the faculty that helped him when he was a student, not too long ago.

He explained that his teaching style is “very unusual in a theoretical based program.”

“Especially in mechanical engineering, sometimes people forget that there’s things that move, and if you open up the hood of your car, there’s an engine in there with gears and grease and cogs and crankshafts,” he explained. “Everything we do here is a homework assignment: you turn it in at midnight even if number five isn’t quite done yet, but in the real world things have to work.”

Hartino said he integrates his practical background into his teaching methods, recognizing when to move on from purely theoretical outlooks.

“I challenge the students every day in every lab exercise to take a look at what we’re learning theoretically and what it means to them in the real world,” he said. “Instead of answering a question, I will ask you 25 more questions to get you to figure the answer out yourself.”

Hartino said he advocates keeping life in perspective and knowing that the department has the students’ best interests at heart.

“Maybe they knocked the ceiling down in your lab two hours before class started and you’re really having a rough time,” he said, referring to his own experience amongst the construction on the engineering quad. “But even if someone growls at you, you should know that for the people in this department, there’s nothing they won’t do for the students.”

Hartino added that being immersed in academia “keeps you young” and “keeps you open for new things and keeps you growing.”

“When you’re the superintendent on a job site you become old fast,” he said. “Here, everyone’s 20 years old and there’s this energy and embracing of everything that is new and is moving, and if you embrace that, then it keeps you young.”

]]>http://cornellsun.com/2016/09/29/cornell-close-ups-teaching-support-specialist-draws-on-experience-as-adult-transfer/feed/3New Community Food Systems Minor to Launch This Fallhttp://cornellsun.com/2016/08/24/new-community-food-systems-minor-to-launch-this-fall/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2016/08/24/new-community-food-systems-minor-to-launch-this-fall/#respondWed, 24 Aug 2016 04:16:35 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=498054The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will offer a new minor in Community Food Systems this fall, allowing students to explore social, ethical and agricultural dimensions of food systems.

Coordinator Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of the minor.

“Members of the faculty team, other faculty members we’ve reached out to as we’ve developed the minor, and the courses on our list of electives, represent a range of academic perspectives, interests and approaches to understanding food systems,” Mouillesseaux-Kunzman said.

Mouillesseaux-Kunzman praised the minor as a partnership “between campus and community” and added that the minor directly involves “those who are on the ground, in communities, working to create more socially just and ecologically sustainable food systems.”

Community partners include Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, Cornell Farmworker Program, East New York Farms, Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming and Soils, Food, and Healthy Communities, according to the minor’s website. Their locations range from Ithaca and Brooklyn to Malawi.

Students complete a course of study in these locations in which they create equitable food systems, the site description explains.

Mouillesseaux-Kunzman stressed the importance of involving the community in the minor.

“A major part of this effort has focused on the community-based practicum and ensuring that the learning taking place on campus and in communities is integrated in meaningful ways,” Kunzman said.

Prof. Scott Peters, developmental sociology, worked with the Food Dignity project – a research project with the aim to advance sustainable community food systems – to launch the minor.

Cornell gained support to create this minor after it was allocated an Engaged Cornell Community Engaged Curriculum Development Grant.

The minor formally launches this fall, Mouillesseaux-Kunzman said, and a strong interest is anticipated.

“We’ve been meeting with faculty members who are creating courses related to community food systems studies, and are hearing about other new courses, which leads me to believe faculty are responding to a growing and strong interest in this area,” she said.

Mouillesseaux-Kunzman said she hopes that those passionate about the subject of the minor can “transform the food system in ways that strengthen individuals and communities.”

]]>http://cornellsun.com/2016/08/24/new-community-food-systems-minor-to-launch-this-fall/feed/0eHub Provides Space for Community, Collaboration to Cornell Entrepreneurshttp://cornellsun.com/2016/06/27/ehub-provides-space-for-community-collaboration-to-cornell-entrepreneurs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
http://cornellsun.com/2016/06/27/ehub-provides-space-for-community-collaboration-to-cornell-entrepreneurs/#commentsMon, 27 Jun 2016 21:58:33 +0000http://cornellsun.com/?p=349214Entrepreneurship at Cornell and Student Agencies Foundation, working in tandem with several Cornell colleges, has opened a 5,000 square foot workspace on campus for student entrepreneurs to collaborate and advance their ventures, according to Zach Shulman, director of Entrepreneurship at Cornell.

The workspace, located in Kennedy Hall, opened for student usage June 4, and a larger center will open at 409 College Avenue in August, Shulman said.

The Kennedy Hall location provides “collaboration space” for students, lecture space for entrepreneurship programs and various staff offices, according to the Entrepreneurship at Cornell website.

“Having such a space legitimizes the entrepreneurship program as something truly integral to the University.” — Kevin Guo ’19

Shulman stressed the importance of eHub’s role as a place for student teams and mentors to work together.

“eHub provides dedicated space for students to form a large, but tight community of entrepreneurs and people interested in entrepreneurship,” he said. “Students can run their businesses from the Collegetown location. Student groups will hold events at eHub.”

The space’s openness and flexibility makes it “perfect for startups and entrepreneurs,” according to Beverly Wallenstein ’16, the founder of Girls Mean Business, a program based in eHub.

Michaela Brew / Sun Senior Editor

Entrepreneurship at Cornell Director Zach Shulman said he hopes eHub will become a “magnet” for student entrepreneurs.

“All the furniture can move and be put into whatever design works for you or your group,” Wallenstein said. “Because it’s so open, it really fosters the team and startup environment. I also love the availability of the private conference rooms, and they are definitely a great space to meet with smaller groups or take a phone call.”

Kevin Guo ’19 — a summer intern at Life Changing Labs, which runs eHub’s summer incubator program — added that the space provides a “public stage” on Cornell’s campus for entrepreneurs.

“I think that just having such a space legitimizes the entrepreneurship program as something truly integral to the University,” Guo said. “Before eHub, LCL was in two rooms on the second floor of Kennedy, hidden away from everything else. Before that, the LCL summer incubator was [in Collegetown].”

Shulman said he hopes the construction of both eHub spaces — which will cost approximately $4.5 million and be funded through alumni donations — will provide “exciting” opportunities for Cornellians interested in entrepreneurship.

“eHub will be a magnet for alumni coming back to campus and for prospective students,” he predicted.